Earth Science

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Open Educational Resources

RESOURCE	GRADE LEVEL	MEDIA TYPE
20-Year Map of Global Rainfall This visualization from NASA shows global rainfall patterns over a 22-year span. It incorporates data from a combination of remote-sensing and ground-based sources.	6-12	Video
All Planet Sizes This illustration from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory shows the approximate sizes of the planets relative to each other. Note that the planets are not shown at appropriate distances from the Sun.	3-12	Image
Astronomical Images in Different Wavelengths Visible light is just one portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that a telescope may detect. This collection of images produced for Teachers' Domain features radio wave, infrared, visible light, and X-ray images of distant stars and galaxies as well as images of the telescopes designed to detect the various wavelengths of radiation.	6-12	Interactive
Biomes This interactive resource adapted from NASA describes the different temperature, precipitation, and vegetation patterns in seven biomes: coniferous forest, temperate deciduous forest, desert, grassland, rainforest, shrubland, and tundra.	3-12	Interactive
Carbon Cycle Diagram This diagram from NASA Earth Science Enterprise illustrates Earth's carbon cycle.	6-12	Image
Characteristics of the Sun This video segment adapted from NASA describes the basic characteristics of our star, the Sun.	3-12	Video
Cloud Types This interactive resource, adapted from NASA's S'COOL Project Tutorial, explains how you can classify and identify various types of clouds.	3-12	Interactive
CO₂ Concentrations at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaiʻi This resource, adapted from the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, provides a graph of monthly average carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration from 1958 to 2000 at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaiʻi.	6-12	Document
Coastal Geological Processes This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service describes the many forces that affect shorelines, including tides, weathering, erosion, and deposition.	6-12	Interactive
Compost Office This interactive activity from Keep America Beautiful, Inc. uses illustrated text and a game to explain why it is important to compost, the science involved, and the perfect recipe for decomposition.	3-8	Interactive
Continental Divide: The Breakup of Pangaea Examine geological evidence found in fossils, rock deposits, and ancient mountains that supports the theory of continental drift in this interactive activity adapted from the Exploratorium.	6-12	Interactive
Deforestation in Bolivia This visualization adapted from NASA features two satellite images from 1984 and 2000 that show the dramatic deforestation of the Bolivian rainforest.	6-12	Interactive
The Disappearing Aral Sea This visualization adapted from NASA features satellite images showing how more than 60 percent of the Aral Sea has disappeared during the last 30 years.	6-12	Interactive
Earth as a System This visualization adapted from NASA maps progressive global changes onto a rotating globe. Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere are shown to be dynamic and interconnected.	6-12	Video
Earth System: Drought and Air Quality This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center discusses how a drought can have negative effects locally, for example by increasing the number of forest fires, and also globally, for example by impacting air quality thousands of miles away.	3-12	Video
Earth System: El Niño This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center describes El Niño, how it forms, and the chain reaction of consequences it triggers around the globe.	6-12	Video
Earth System: El Niño's Influence on Hurricane Formation This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center explains how hurricanes develop and why there are fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean in strong El Niño years.	6-12	Video
Earth System: Ice and Global Warming This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center explains ice's role in the Earth system, highlighting the delicate balance that could be upset with a continued rise in temperature due to climate change.	6-12	Video
Earth System: Satellites This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center shows how integral satellites are to everyday life and describes the different types, including orbital and geostationary.	6-12	Video
Engineering for the Red Planet In this video segment from NASA, robotics researcher Ayanna Howard uses engineering to improve the intelligence of robots in space exploration.	6-12	Video
Erosion and Weathering Erosion and weathering may be caused by a variety of factors including wind and water. This still collage produced for Teachers' Domain features images of rock, soil, and beach erosion.	K-8	Image
Expedition 8 Crew Talks to Students in Japan In this video segment adapted from NASA, students in Matsuyama City, Japan, interview Expedition 8 Commander and NASA Science Officer Mike Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri about life and work aboard the International Space Station.	K-8	Video
Galileo on the Moon Watch Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott perform Galileo's falling objects experiment on the Moon in this video segment from NASA.	3-12	Video
Global View of the Seasons This interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain features satellite data of Earth's seasonal cycles. Visualizations and comparative still images reveal how successfully plants are photosynthesizing at different times of the year.	6-12	Interactive
Global Warming: Carbon Dioxide and the Greenhouse Effect This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE demonstrates the physical property of carbon dioxide that causes the greenhouse effect.	6-12	Video
Great Ocean Conveyor Belt: Part I This image from GRID-Arendal depicts the major circulation pattern of the ocean, illustrating interactions between temperature, salinity, and depth.	9-12	Image
Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2: A Record of Climate Change Using images and graphs, this interactive resource illustrates scientists' efforts to study Earth's climatic history for the last 250,000 years by drilling into the Greenland Ice Sheet and examining ice cores. Adapted from the Wright Center for Science Education, Tufts University.	9-12	Interactive
How Hurricanes Form This animation from NASA illustrates the phases in the formation of a hurricane.	6-12	Interactive
Hubble Telescope: Looking Deep This video segment adapted from the Space Telescope Science Institute shows what the Hubble telescope found when it stared at a single, nearly empty spot in the sky for 10 days in 1995. The unexpected result was a picture of a multitude of galaxies stretching into the distance.	6-12	Video
The Hydrologic Cycle View the five processes of the hydrologic cycle in this interactive resource adapted from NASA in which animations illustrate condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and evapotranspiration.	3-8	Interactive
Infrared Gallery How would your world look if you saw heat instead of light? In this interactive resource produced for Teachers' Domain, see what familiar objects look like through an infrared camera and watch infrared videos of geysers, mudpots, and hot springs.	3-12	Interactive
Infrared: More Than Your Eyes Can See In this video segment adapted from NASA, astronomer Michelle Thaller introduces the world of infrared light and demonstrates how infrared cameras allow us to see more than what the naked eye can perceive.	3-12	Video
The Jet Stream and Horizontal Temperature Gradients Explore and manipulate the relationship between wind speed and temperature gradients in this interactive activity adapted from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.	6-12	Interactive
Meteor Showers This video segment adapted from NASA uses animation to illustrate the properties of meteor showers and comets. Included is are visualizations of a comet's tail and of Earth passing through a debris stream left behind by meteoroids.	3-8	Interactive
Minerals in Our Environment What minerals are in your toothpaste? A pencil? A telephone? This interactive resource adapted from the U.S. Geological Survey illustrates the variety of minerals used in everyday items found in kitchens, bathrooms, offices, and yards.	K-8	Interactive
The Mississippi River Delta These images from NASA, the Lunar and Planetary Institute, and U.S. Geological Survey illustrate the effects of severe storms and decades of river management on the size and shape of the Louisiana coastline and the Mississippi River Delta.	6-12	Interactive
Monster Black Hole in Galaxy M84 This animation by Thomas Goertel of the Space Telescope Science Institute is an artist's conception of a spiral galaxy harboring a super-massive black hole. Observe how the material rotates faster the closer it is to the nucleus.	6-12	Video
Mountain Maker, Earth Shaker This interactive activity adapted from A Science Odyssey Web site helps you visualize different types of plate tectonic activity and shows the impact this activity has on Earth's surface.	6-12	Interactive
Mountain of Ice: If the Ice Melts This interactive resource adapted from NOVA Online features a collection of images that show what would happen to selected coastlines around the world if the Antarctic Ice Sheet melted.	6-12	Interactive
Mount St. Helens: Before and After This multimedia resource produced for Teachers' Domain chronicles the 1980 volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens. Featured are still images of the devastation, video of the eruption plume, and before-and-after satellite images of the affected region.	3-12	Interactive
Observe Clouds This video segment produced for Teachers' Domain features a time-lapse video of clouds forming, changing, and moving across the sky.	K-5	Video
Observe Precipitation In this video segment produced for Teachers' Domain, observe different types of precipitation — rain, hail, and snow.	K-5	Video
Ocean Temperatures and Climate Patterns This animation from The New Media Studio illustrates how the atmosphere and ocean together shape wind, current, and rainfall patterns in the tropical Pacific.	6-12	Video
Ozone Hole This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center gives a detailed explanation of the catalytic chemical process that has led to the creation of the ozone hole.	6-12	Video
Rocky Coasts This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service profiles rocky coast environments and describes how various geologic features form.	6-12	Interactive
Sandy Coasts This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service profiles sandy coast environments and describes various features of sandy beach environments.	6-12	Interactive
Satellites Orbiting Earth This animation adapted from NASA shows the orbital paths of spacecraft in NASA's Earth Observing Fleet that are a source of wide-scale, primary research about Earth.	3-12	Video
The Search for Another Earth This NASA video provides an overview of technology under development to explore the planets and stars outside our solar system. These will be the most sensitive instruments built to date.	3-12	Video
Soils Around the World Not all soils are the same. This interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain features photographs of the 12 major soil types and maps that highlight their distribution around the world.	6-12	Interactive
Solar Eclipses What is a solar eclipse and why are they only visible in some parts of the world? In this video segment adapted from NASA, astronomer Susan Stolovy uses animations to provide an answer to these questions.	3-8	Video
Solar Wind's Effect on Earth This video segment adapted from NASA describes solar storms and their effects on Earth. Animations of coronal mass ejections and solar cycles help explain what we know, and what we can predict, about solar activity.	3-12	Video
Swift: Gamma-Ray Bursts In this video segment adapted from Penn State Public Broadcasting's Swift: Eyes Through Time, learn about the Swift satellite — a NASA mission with international participation — and how it is collecting data about gamma-ray bursts that may yield important discoveries about the Universe.	6-12	Video
Tectonic Plates and Plate Boundaries This interactive activity adapted from NASA features world maps that identify different sections of the Earth's crust called tectonic plates. The locations of different types of plate boundaries are also identified, including convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.	6-12	Interactive
Tornado Chaser Footage These video segments adapted from NOVA feature extensive footage of a tornado and tornado damage.	3-12	Video
Total Solar Eclipse Animation This brief animation adapted from NOVA illustrates how total solar eclipses form and explains the stages from first contact to totality.	3-12	Video
Virtual Cave This interactive resource adapted from The Virtual Cave by Dave Bunnell, presents images of various features found in solution caves and includes detailed information on how these features are formed and where they occur.	3-12	Interactive
Virtual Lava Tube This interactive resource adapted from The Virtual Lava Tube by Dave Bunnell, presents images of different features found in lava tube caves and includes detailed information on how these features are formed and where they occur.	3-12	Interactive
Volcanic Eruptions and Hazards This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service illustrates the difference between explosive and effusive volcanic eruptions as well as the hazards that can result, including lahars, tsunamis, and lava flows.	6-12	Interactive
Volcanic Features This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service illustrates the variety of landforms and features created by volcanoes. Featured are calderas, craters, fumaroles and other geothermal features, igneous rocks, lava flows, lava tubes, and maars.	6-12	Interactive
Volcanism Volcanoes are one of the most dynamic, powerful, and visible forces on Earth. This interactive resource adapted from the National Park Service uses images to describe different types and parts of volcanoes, volcanic rocks, magma, and where volcanoes form.	6-12	Interactive
Water Cycle Animation This animation from NASA visualizes the steps of the water cycle, including precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, and condensation.	K-8	Video
Water Vapor Circulation on Earth This simulation from the National Center for Atmospheric Research portrays annual patterns in water vapor and precipitation across the globe, illustrating general circulation patterns as well as seasonal and regional variation.	6-12	Video
What Is a Planet? This video segment, adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, presents the ongoing debate over the definition of a planet, including the status of Pluto.	3-12	Video
Why Doesn't the Moon Fall Down? In this animated video segment adapted from NASA, astronomer Doris Daou explains how the forces of speed and gravity keep the Moon in a constant orbit around Earth.	3-8	Video
WMAP: "Baby Picture" of the Universe View the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) image from NASA to see the first detailed map of the oldest light in the universe, from 379,000 years after the Big Bang, over 13 billion years ago. A second image offers a visual timeline to put the WMAP image in perspective.	9-12	Image